Bridgestone Americas has opened a new $3 million center in Akron to train professionals on tire retreading – a process that the company says offers economic and environmental benefits compared to tire replacement.
At an Oct. 29 grand opening of the new, nearly 15,000-square-foot Bandag Training Center at 1690 Firestone Parkway, Mitch Kritzell, Bridgestone vice president of product development, said the company's fleet customers save $3 billion annually from tire retreading.
The broader retread industry, Kritzell said, provides environmental benefits that include "217 million gallons of oil saved per year" and "over 1.5 billion pounds of landfill avoided."
CalRecycle, California's Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, states on its website that retreading tires "offers several important environmental benefits and can help companies meet their sustainability goals and advance the circular economy for tires."
Bandag a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas
Bandag, Kritzell said, is the "single-largest retread retailer in the world" and has about 49% of the share of the market in the Americas.
Established in 1957, Bandag became a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas in 2007, according to Bridgestone's website .
The new Akron center is the second Bandag Training Center. The first is located in Muscatine, Iowa.
Who will use Bridgestone's Bandag Training Center in Akron?
Each year, Bridgestone aims to educate hundreds of commercial fleet and tire dealer professionals in the facility, according to a company press release.
"Bridgestone will bring business owners, customers and industry experts from across our industry to learn about the retreading process right here in Akron," Kritzell said.
Others who will train in the facility – both hands-on with equipment and in a classroom – will include Bridgestone and Bandag employees, said Thomas Trego, director of franchise support for Bridgestone Americas.
What does the tire retread process look like?
Providing a tour Oct. 29 to stakeholders such as Akron city and Summit County representatives and news and trade media, Trego showed multiple steps involved in retreading tires.
First is the initial inspection, which includes machines detecting issues such as nail holes. Afterward, tires are buffed. And in a step that Trego called "skiving," employees can fix "superficial injuries" such as rust.
Using another step and machine, Trego said, treads are applied to tire casings.
"The machine will cut it to the appropriate length and adjust the stretch, or the tension, that's on the tread as it moves through," Trego said.
Each tire is next placed in what Trego called an "envelope," then heated in a curing chamber.
The entire process, Trego said, takes about five to six hours.
Mayor Malik: 'Such an interesting business model'
Akron Mayor Shammas Malik said the new center exemplifies Greater Akron's status as the Sustainable Polymers Tech Hub , a federal designation the region received in 2023.
"It's such an interesting business model to be able to bring people in here, train them on the technology and then be able to help the customers be able to maintain their fleets," Malik said.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: $3M Bridgestone training center widens the way for tire retreading
